After you have learned the rules of chess and developed some tactical abilities, how do you go from there? You are now ready to tackle basic issues of strategy, but what is the best way to improve and win more games?

Many chess players act intimidated and overly cautious when they have the Black pieces. They are so preoccupied with White’s advantage of the first move, that their predominant urge is to defend against possible threats and to safeguard their position. Adorjan shows that White’s advantage is far from obvious and that winning with Black starts with having the right attitude.This book will convince both club players and professionals that there is no reason to be afraid when playing Black.

Instruction + exercises according to the old Soviet Chess School. The best advice for chess players who want to improve quickly is: get better at tactics! Because the vast majority of amateur games is decided through tactics you will immediately start beating more opponents when you improve your tactical skills.

After the immense success of his award-winning classic Chess Strategy for Club Players, Herman Grooten has now written an equally accessible follow-up primer on attacking chess. He teaches you how to spot opportunities, exploit weaknesses, bringing your forces to the frontline and striking at the right moment.

Mikhail Tal was one of the greatest geniuses of chess history. The magician from Riga, as he was known because of his dazzling attacking games, took the chess world by storm and in 1961, at the age of twenty-three, he won the world championship.

SHOPWORN - Tactics Time 1001 Chess Tactics From The Games of Everyday Chess Players

Catalog Code: SWB0138NIC

The best way to improve at chess is to solve tactics puzzles. But why do regular tactics books make amateurs study master games? Is it useful for beginners to analyze games that are unreal for everyday chess players? YES! If you want to improve at chess but have limited time and energy available, this is your book! Now you can study positions that are happening in games you yourself might have played!

1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners is a great first tactics book. It helps you in identifying weak spots in the position of your opponent, in recognizing patterns of combinations, and in visualizing tricks.

The best way to improve at chess is to solve tactics puzzles. But why do regular tactics books make amateurs study master games? Is it useful for beginners to analyze games that are unreal for everyday chess players? YES! Tactics Time 2 presents 1001 fresh and instructive positions.

If only life was as straightforward as a book of chess exercises! If only someone would tap you on the shoulder every time the moment to show your tactical skills has arrived This book will teach you to recognize the signals that tell you that somewhere in the position you are looking at there is a tactical blow just waiting to be found. What you need, and what this book helps you to acquire, is a Chess Tactics Antenna.

In this stimulating book for players of all ages, Garry Kasparov selects the best chess combination from recent grandmaster play and presents them in a test-yourself format that everyone will enjoy. Whether you are a beginner discovering chess tactics for the first time or a master seeking to brush up on your skills, this book is sure to be a useful addition to your chess armory.

Paul Morphy is a chess legend and without doubt one of the greatest players in the history of the game. His understanding of the game was years ahead of his time and in his era he was easily the best player in the world. In this book, Grandmaster Zenón Franco examines in detail Morphy's chess style, selects and studies his favourite Morphy games, and demonstrates how we can all improve our chess by learning from Morphy's masterpieces.

Mikhail Tal is a true legend of chess. He was the World Champion and also holds the world record for the longest unbeaten run in competitive chess. Tal is widely regarded to be the greatest attacking player of all time. Nicknamed ‘the magician from Riga’, Tal was a creative genius who made it look as though absolutely anything was possible over the chessboard. In this book, former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala selects and examines his favourite Tal games, from the beginning to the end of his exceptional career. Lakdawala shows how we can all improve our chess by learning from Tal’s masterpieces.

SHOPWORN - Bent Larsen's Best Games Fighting Chess With The Great Dane

Catalog Code: SWB0144NIC

Bent Larsen (1935-2010) was one of the greatest fighters chess has ever seen. In his rich career the great Dane defeated all World Champions from Botvinnik to Karpov. He was a Candidate for the World Championship four times and became one of the most successful tournament players of his time. His uncompromising style and his unorthodox thinking made him popular with chess players all around the globe.

This book covers the final two decades of Tal's life and games, from 1972 until his death in 1992. Despite being more than a decade removed from his world title reign, the early 1970s saw Tal rewrite chess history with two record-breaking unbeaten streaks. Other highlights include victory in the Montreal 1979 Tournament of Champions, and winning the World Blitz Championship in 1988.

Bobby Fischer is a legendary chess figure, and many consider him to be the greatest chess player of all time. Fischer was a child prodigy who later developed into a phenomenal force. During his peak years he dominated his nearest rivals in a manner that had previously never been seen. In this book, former American Open Champion Cyrus Lakdawala studies his favorite Fischer games. Lakdawala examines Fischer's renowned skills in attack, defense, counterattack, exploiting imbalances, dynamic elements, accumulating advantages and endgame play.

In this book Sokolov demonstrates the deadly effectiveness of his systems against openings such as The Nimzo-Indian, Queen's Gambit, Slav and King's Indian. Contains 50 deeply annotated games with introductions . Brilliant and inventive opening play will both instruct and entertain . Includes many spectacular miniatures of under 30 moves Ivan Sokolov is one of the most outstanding talents to emerge in the 1990's, and many of his victims in this book- Anand, Adams, Topalov, and Lautier – hail from the cream of the younger generation.

Chess Secrets is a series of books which uncover the mysteries of the most important aspects of chess, such as strategy, attack, defence, opening play, endgames, off-board preparation and mental attitude. In each book the author chooses and deeply studies a number of great players who have excelled in such aspects of the game, greatly influenced their peers and inspired all of us.

ENDGAME TACTICS is an affordable guide that reduces the psychological burden of endgame instruction by showing that endgames are actually quite enjoyable because of the tactics! There is no substitute for hard work in getting better at chess, but the fact of the matter is that we always work harder at something we love. By enjoying the entertainment of real life endgame tactics, and (at least for the moment) forgetting about theoretical positions that seem distant from everyday practice, the amateur player learns to love the endgame.

SHOPWORN - Liquidation on the Chess Board Mastering the Transition into the Pawn Endgame

Catalog Code: SWB0149NIC

Pawn endings do not arise out of nowhere. Before emerging as endgames with just kings and pawns, they 'pre-existed' in positions that still contained any number of pieces. Liquidation is the purposeful transition into a pawn ending. It is a vital technique that is seldom taught. Strange, because knowing when and how to liquidate can help you win games or save draws. In this book, former US Chess Champion Joel Benjamin teaches you all you need to know about successfully liquidating into pawn endgames.

SHOPWORN - Mastering Chess Middlegames Lectures from the All-Russian School of Grandmasters

Catalog Code: SWB0163NIC

Panchenko’s classic Mastering Chess Middlegames is for the first time available in translation, giving club-players around the world access to this unique training method. The book contains a collection of inspiring lessons on the most important middlegame topics: attack, defence, counterplay, realising the advantage, obstructing the plans of your opponent, the battle of the heavy pieces, and much more. In each chapter, Panchenko clearly identifies the various aspects of the topic, formulates easy-to-grasp rules, presents a large number of well-chosen examples and ends with a wealth of practical tests.

The series in itself is a continuation of Kasparov's mammoth history of chess, comprising My Great Predecessors and Modern Chess. Kasparov's historical volumes have received great critical and public acclaim for their rigorous analysis and comprehensive detail regarding the developments in chess that occurred both on and off the board.

New York 1889 was the strongest chess tournament ever held up until that time. It was supposed to be for the World Chess Championship, but it has never been recognized as such, primarily because Steinitz, who helped organize the event and who was present as a journalist, refused to play.

Every chess player knows that some moves are harder to see than others. Why is it that, frequently, uncomplicated wins simply do not enter your mind? Even strong grandmasters suffer from blind spots that obscure some of the best ideas during a game. What is more: often both players fail to see the opportunity that is right in front of their eyes.

Russia boasts a long and rich tradition in chess education. The Complete Manual of Positional Chess is the latest and most comprehensive product of this Russia striving for perfection. This handbook, probably the most thorough grounding in the history of teaching chess, was recently created for chess teachers at the DYSS, the special sports school for young talents in Russia. Konstantin Sakaev and Konstantin Landa present a complete set of instructions and tips for trainers and self-improvers. It teaches you not only how to enhance your fundamental knowledge and technical skills, but also how to work on your physical and psychological conditioning.

GM Daniel Naroditsky draws on his experience as both a prodigy and a coach to identify and cure the 15 biggest weaknesses that hold chess players back – many of which you may have never realized were serious problems before.

Award-winning chess coach Erik Czerwin’s unique training method begins by studying the simplest chess positions with very few pieces – and then moves on, step by step, adding more pieces to the board. Complex ideas are always built up from simpler situations, ensuring that the learning curve stays flat.

In this sequel to his instant classic Improve Your Chess Pattern Recognition, a highly original take on practical middlegame instruction, Arthur van de Oudeweetering presents players of almost every level with a fresh supply of essential, yet easy-to-remember building blocks for their chess knowledge.

SHOPWORN - The New in Chess Book of Chess Improvement Lessons from the World's Best Chess Magazine

Catalog Code: SWB0187NIC

'The New in Chess Book of Improvement' is a treasure trove of study material and has chapters on attack and defense, sacrifices, material imbalances, pawn structures, endgames and various positional themes. It includes masterclasses by no fewer than eight World Champions: Tal, Smyslov, Karpov, Kramnik, Anand, Topalov Carlsen and Kasparov. But also chess legends such as Larsen, Kortchnoi, Timman, Ivanchuk, Short, Aronian and Shirov.
Together they represent an exciting picture of modern top level chess.

Brought together for the first time in one volume are three books by the titan of chess, José Capablanca. One of the greatest chess prodigies of all time, he evolved the most perfect chess technique seen on a chessboard. A former World champion, and one of the most successful tournament players in the history of the game, Capablanca's uncanny position judgment empowered him to produce games that were masterful pieces of position play, and that culminated often in combinations of startling brilliancy.

In this book IM Arthur van de Oudeweetering supplies building blocks for your chess knowledge. In short chapters he presents lots of well-defined subjects, easy to remember because of their specific elements. After working with this book you will experience something wonderful: your mind and memory will be triggered much easier and more frequently. An increasing number of positions, pawn structures and piece placements will automatically activate your chess knowledge. As a result, you will simply find the right move more often and more quickly!

SHOPWORN - The Power of Pawns Chess Structure Fundamentals for Post-beginners

Catalog Code: SWB0166NIC

Post-beginners should know the basic essentials of chess structures and that is what this modern training manual focuses on. Experienced chess teacher Grandmaster Jörg Hickl helps you to recognize the important characteristics of pawn structures, learn how you can and should develop your pieces, identify how you can improve your position and develop a plan of action. This book provides common sense guidance and Jörg Hickl uses practical examples to explain typical structures, strategies and plans. His tips and exercises are both highly enjoyable and to the point.

Is your natural instinct at the chessboard for caution and strategy or do you crave adventure and confrontation? This question may be more important than you think because being aware of your personal style (and that of your opponent) is essential in your development as a chess player. Cyrus Lakdawala does something no other chess writer has done before: he makes you reflect deeply about your style of play and its consequences. After reading Chess for Hawks you will be a stronger player because you have mastered an essential but neglected skill: you will know how to obey the position's requirements instead of your natural inclination.